Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen First Look

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Activision brings by the Wii and DS versions for a brief look.

By Craig Harris

The last time Michael Bay helmed a sequel it was the dreadful Bad Boys 2, but I'm holding higher hopes for his upcoming follow-up to the surprisingly solid Transformers flick. When Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen hits theaters this June, Activision will be right there with videogame renditions of the flick, just like it was two years ago with the original Transformers title. The company gave us a sneak peek of the versions being produced for the Nintendo platforms. But only a small peek. And we didn't really get to play either of them – it was just for looking.

The Nintendo DS version is once again being handled by Vicarious Visions, and once again it's being produced in two flavors: Autobots and Decepticons. Each version will have its own missions based on the side you purchase: the idea is that you're a protoform Transformer, and when you land on Earth, you take one of the two sides. The game looks a heck of a lot like the versions that Vicarious Visions produced for the original version (which we weren't entirely kind to in our review), but in the two years since that game the team looks to fix what was broken about the original version: better control and tighter missions are two of the focuses for the Transformers second outing on the Nintendo DS.

The finished version will feature 25 missions in each version, and both versions will be able to connect in the game's head-to-head, local deathmatch mode.

On Wii, Activision is working with Krome Studios instead of the original games' studio, Travellers Tales. In fact, according to Activision the Wii version is being worked on by the same team that handled Transformers Armada for Atari – many people consider that to be the best of the Transformers videogame lot, so that's a good team to go to.

Instead of an open-world experience, Krome's focused its fifteen missions to be one of three different types: combat based, driving-based, and flying-based. The combat -based missions mix brawling elements with platforming mechanics, and while the action takes place in a 3D engine, the levels are on a fixed path so you can't stray from the area that the battles taking place. In driving-based missions, you'll zoom through high-traffic areas in the robot's vehicle form, occasionally transforming out of the vehicle to attack enemies that zoom in for the ambush. In flying, players take control of airborne Transformers in missions that have a very arcade-like Afterburner feel to them. Another mission that Activision showed us was one where Optimus Prime gets sliced out of an air transport over Shanghai, and as Prime you have to guide your freefall body and blast at the enemies as you plummet to Earth.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will feature a co-op option for two players: similar to what Nintendo did with Super Mario Galaxy and what Electronic Arts is doing for the upcoming Dead Space Extraction, Activision is allowing a second player to jump in with a second Wii remote to target enemies with an optional reticule. There will apparently be a co-op "Arena Mode" for two players.

The Wii version looks pretty solid with a less realistic visual take on the movie's imagery. It's hard to ignore the somewhat chuggy framerate of the game – there's definitely a lot going on in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but the game definitely can't keep up with a framerate you'd consider "smooth." There's still a month or so of polish to apply to the game, so hopefully that's where a lot of the attention will go.

We'll have an update on both the Nintendo DS and Wii versions of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as we get closer to their summer release date.